The latest Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey has ranked Nairobi as the world’s 122^nd most expensive city in the world, down from previously held position 108 last year. This move down the list is mainly attributed to the weakening of the dollar in the country. Within the last 12 months, the Kenya shilling has largely weakened against other major currencies, trading at an average of 89 units to the dollar.

Tokyo is the world’s most expensive of cities, pushing down Luanda, Angola, to second position. The 2012 data has been put together against a background of economic difficulties and currency volatility.

In Africa, Nairobi ranks 22^nd as the most expensive, dropping one place from the previously held position 21. Luanda remains Africa’s most expensive, with Chad following closely behind.

Worth noting is that out of the top third most expensive cities in the world, Africa puts in 20 cities. This has been attributed to difficulty in finding good and secure accommodation for expatriates. Therefore, the limited supply of acceptable accommodation is very expensive.

The drop in the cost of living for expatriates in Nairobi has also been attributed to the stagnation in Nairobi’s cost of renting over the years for expatriates. The HassConsult survey had earlier this year indicated that in 2011, landlords cut rental charges for high-end residential houses by almost a tenth.

The Mercer survey is one of the world’s most comprehensive cost-of-living surveys and covers 214 cities across the continents. It considers a comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The cost of housing is also measured, and usually plays a big role given that it is the biggest expense for expatriates.

This particular survey was derived from data collected in March this year

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